Machine for flanging metal roofing-sheets.



No. 643,334. Patented Feb. l3, lean.

Y r. E. SAGENDORPH.

MACHINE FOR FLANGING METAL ROOFING SHEETS.

(Application filed Nov. 10, 1899.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

No. 643.334. Patented Feb. I3, l9D0.

' F. E. SAGENDURPH. MACHINE FOR FLANGING METAL ROOFING SHEE (Application filed Nov. 10, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. I

(No Model.)

UNTTED STATES PATENT OEETGE.

FRANK E. SAGENDORPH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MACHlNE FOR FLANGING METAL ROOFING-SHEETS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 643,334, dated February 13, 1900. Application filed November 10, 1899. Serial No. 736,523. (No model.) i

T0 on whom, it may concern:

Be itknown that I, FRANK E. SAGENDORPH, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Flanging Met-a1 Roofing-Sheets, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which like letters of reference in the different figures indicate like parts.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a portion of a building, showing the manner of applying my improved machine for the purpose of flanging sheet-metal roofing-plates. Fig. 2 is a plan view of my improved machine. Fig. 3 is a side view thereof. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken upon the line at 4:, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a front view of said device, aportion thereof being shown in vertical section upon the line 5 5,Fig. 3; and Fig. 6 is an end view of a metal roofingsheet, one flange of which is represented as having been acted upon by said machine.

In that class of sheet-metal roofing in which the sections are joined by what are known as standing seams the sheets are formed in a suitable machine with longitudinal vertical flanges upon the opposite edges, and in this form the sheets are supplied to the workmen whose business it is to place them upon the roof. These flanges are usually about an inch and a quarter in height and are intended to be bent laterally, so that a flange upon one edge of a given sheet will overlap that upon the edge of the adjacent sheet.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, cheap, and effective mechanism by which the turning of a lateral flange upon said upright flange may be accomplished rapidly and uniformlybya continuous movement, the machine being applied at one end of a given flange and drawn rapidly throughout its length, thereby completing the work by a single operation.

To these ends my invention consists in the combination of elements hereinafter more particularly described and claimed.

Referring to the drawings, a represents a cast-.metal block having a fiat wide base, said block being cut away at the forward end, as

more clearly shown in Fig. 3, for the recepadjusted that the peripheral faces thereof are sufficiently separated to permit of the insertion between them, in a manner hereinafter stated, of a strip of sheet metal of the usual thickness of that used for roofing purposes. Formed upon the block above the rollers 11 are lugs cl 01, through which is inserted horizontally a bolt 6, which serves as a bearing for a flanging-roller f. The axis of the roller flies in a plane parallel to and somewhat in the rear of a plane cut through the axes of the rollers l) b. The Hanging-roller f is set into a cavity in the block a, and surrounding it in'the middle thereof is a blunt knifeedged projection g, which projects slightly between the faces of the rollers b, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. Upon opposite sides of the projection g are laterally-extending faces h h, which are inclined, as shown, at a slight angle to the axis of the roller, for the purpose hereinafter stated.

Arranged longitudinally beneath the block a and rigidly attached thereto by means of bolts or screws it, Fig. 4, are forming dies or mandrels j 70, between which is left a space Z, as shown, which space is of sufficient width to receive the sheet metal to be acted upon and is in alinement with the space between the rollers 19 b, said dies being placed immediately behind the rollers b b and extending to the rear of the machine. The meeting faces of said dies are vertical, and said dies are provided with upwardly-extended projections m m, which are inclined laterally and downwardly in opposite directions and at equal angles, as shown. The bottom of the diej is flush with that of the block a, as shown in Fig. 4, and ametal plate n is rigidly attached to that. side of said bottom and is extended to the outer edge of the other half of said block, which latter half is somewhat raised, so as to leave a uniform space 0 between the plate at and the bottom of the die it and a part of that of the block a upon the same side of and about the same width as that of the space l between the opposing faces of the dies.

Formed upon the block a near its rear end are raised lugs 9 p, which are bored horizontally for the reception of a bolt q, arranged at right angles to the slot or space Z, which serves as a bearing for a secondary flangingroll 1'. The latter is provided with a V- shaped groove 8 in its periphery, the angles ofincline of which conform, respectively, to those'of the inclined faces m m upon the diesj 7t. Said flanging-roll r is so adjusted that the space between its periphery and the working faces of the dies is substantially the same as the width of the space Z.

A bail or loop is preferably hinged to the forward -end of the frame and is intended as a means for drawing the machine forward to perform its work, as well as a handle by which it may be carried. A rope or hooked rod u, as shown in Fig. 1, may be used to operate the machine.

Having thus described the various parts of my improved device, I will now explain its operation.

The roofingsheets, having the vertical flanges c 12 formed thereon, are placed upon the roof and joined at the ends by the usual locking-seams w, as indicated in Fig. 1. One end of the body of the sheet is introduced in the space 0 between the plate a and one of the rollers 19, while the vertical flange o is inserted between the faces of the rollers 11 I]. Said rollers may be termed supporting-rollers, inasmuch as they serve to support a portion of said flange in a vertical position, while the upper portion as the machine is drawn forward is engaged by the projection g and one of the faces h upon the roller f and is thereby bent laterally into the position substantially as indicated in dotted lines at m in Fig. 6. A further movement causes the sheet metal to pass into the space l between the diesj 7c when the laterally-bent portion is engaged by the flanging-roller r, which presses it down upon the inclined face of one of the dies j is, thus completing the work and forming the inclined flange y, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6. The movement being properly initiated, the operator proceeds to draw the machine from one end of the series of roof-sheets to the other, as indicated in- Fig. 1, thereby forming a uniform and perfect flange throughout the length thereof, when he proceeds to form the flange upon the opposite edge of the sheet by reversing the machine and drawing it in an opposite direction. Assuming the machine to be placed upon the left-hand side of the roof-sheet, as shown, the flange 3 would be turned toward the left and would be brought into contact with the faces h s, respectively, upon the left side of the rollers f 1"; but upon returning to form the flange upon the opposite side of the sheet the operation is reversed and the flange is engaged by the opposite faces of the rollers.' This causes the flanges upon both edges of the sheet to be bent in the same direction, which is essential in order that the.

flange upon one sheet may overlap that upon the adjacent sheet to enable the connectingseam to be finished in the usual well-known way, which I deem it unnecessary to describe herein. In other words, assuming the operator to stand at the lower end of the sheet, or at that end at the bottom of the view as shown in Fig. 1, it is essential that both flanges should be bent in the same direction that is, either to the. left or right, as may be arbitrarily determined. Assuming it to be to the left, as shown, then the machine would operate as described, for in View of the plate a it is obvious that the machine could not be applied to the opposite or right-hand side of the sheet without omitting said plate or reversing its position alternately. It follows that the flange on that side must be turned by applying the machine to the upper end and drawing it back; but if the flange upon that side of the plate were turned to the left with respect to the machine it would be reversed with respect to the other flange and would not be operative in the final work required of it. In order to turn it in the same direction, therefore, it must in the return movement be initiated toward the right-hand side of the machine.

The advantages of my improved device are too obvious to require special comment.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. A flanging machine of the class described, in which are combined means for supporting the lower portion of a vertical flange against lateral movement, an initial flangingroller for initiating a lateral bend of the up per portion of said vertical flange, a die hav ing an inclined lateral face for supporting said flange when turned laterally, and a final flanging-roller fitted to act in conjunction with said die, substantiallyas described.

2. A flanging machine of the class described, in which are combined means forsupporting the lower portion of a vertical flange against lateral movement, an initial flangingroller for initiating a lateral bend of the upper portion of said vertical flange in either direction, parallel dies having oppositely-inclined lateral faces, said dies being located in the rear of and in a plane below said initial roller, the same being separated to permit said vertical flange to pass between them, and a flanging-roller located above said dies for compressing the metal upon one or the other of the dies according to the direction in which it is primarily bent by, said initial roller, substantially as described.

3. A flanging machine of the class described, in which are combined means for supporting the lower portion of a vertical flange against lateral movement, an initial flan gingroller for initiating a lateral bend of the upper portion of said vertical flange in either direction, parallel dies having oppositely-inclined lateral faces for supporting said flange when turned in one or another direction laterally, a final Hanging-roller arranged to act in conjunction with said dies, and a horizontal bottom plate adapted to pass beneath the horizontal body of the roofing-plate; whereby the vertical flange of said plate may be held and guided uniformly to the work, substantially as described.

4. A device for forming lateral flanges for standing seams of metal roofing-sheets, consisting of a frame having two rollers mounted at the front upon vertical axes, the faces of said rollers being slightly separated, a horizontal plate attached to the bottom of said frame and having a space between the two, an initial flanging-roller above and midway between said first named rollers mounted upon a horizontal axis, a secondary flangingroller in the rear of said last-named roller, the former being provided with a V-shaped peripheral groove, and longitudinal dies provided with laterally-inclined faces, said dies having a space between them for the admission of the vertical flange of a metal plate to be acted upon, substantially as described.

5. A device of the class described in which are combined flange-supportin g rollers placed side by side, having vertical axes, an initial forming-roller mounted above and in a plane between the opposing faces of the former, dies having faces inclined in opposite directions downwardly and laterally, said dies eX- tending lengthwise of said machine and having a vertical space between them in alinement with the space between said supportingrollers, and a flange-forming roller above said dies and adapted to operate in conjunction therewith, whereby a portion of a vertical roof-tlan ge may be turned laterally and downwardly in the same direction upon one edge of the sheet that it is upon the other, whether said machine be moved in one direction or its opposite, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 8th day of November, 1899.

FRANK E. SAGENDORPH.

Witnesses:

' D. H. FLETCHER,

FREDERICK PURDY. 

